Winchester Mystery House
The Winchester Mystery House is a tourist attraction in San Jose, California. Overview Begun in 1884, the Winchester Mystery House's ongoing construction occupied the remaining thirty-eight years of Sarah Winchester's life. Heiress to the Winchester Arms fortune, Sarah believed that she was under a curse placed on her by the countless victims killed by Winchester Arms, and had to build rooms to house the dead. The Gothic Victorian monstrosity was constantly expanded with dozens of pointless rooms, stairs leading nowhere, narrow hallways less than two feet wide, secret doors, and ceilings so low one had to stoop to enter. At midnight each night, Sarah would don a nightgown inscribed with occult symbols and weave her way through mazes of rooms via secret, sliding panels to the "seance room." For the next two hours she would receive instructions from the ghosts, telling her what sort of chambers and galleries should be built next. Thirteen is the dominant theme of the house, reflected in the number of lights on chandeliers, coat hooks on walls, windows in rooms, and even the number of drainage holes in the kitchen sink's trap. At the widow's death the house contained over seven hundred rooms, of which more than a hundred and sixty still stand today. In places, nails can still be seen half-driven into walls where workmen, informed of the mistress's death, abruptly halted their labors. Apparitions reportedly seen around the house seem to be some of the old Winchester caretakers and servants, apparently guarding the manse. The Winchester Ghost House The most recognizable freehold in the County of Selkrest in the Kingdom of Pacifica, the Winchester House is not, technically speaking, a freehold at all. The House is home to literally hundreds of chimerical beasts and objects, but such is their power that no Kithain dares to attempt to establish a permanent hold on the place. Frequent visitors are more or less tolerated by the odd thirteen-eyed beasts who prowl the grounds and hallways, but only so long as they're not too frequent. Faerie frolics with these beasts can be light-hearted amusement, but they can also devolve into running battles that last until the intruding Kithain are driven off the house's grounds or chimerically killed. Kithain can gather Glamour here, in surreptitious games of hide-and-seek with the imaginary keepers among the shrubs and trees of the vast grounds. A prime target for those who wish to absorb the Glamour of the place is the UnClock, a chimerical flower clock with thirteen hour markings, springing from the house's front lawn. The UnClock boasts only an hour hand, but that hand moves at its own pace, sometimes forward and sometimes backwards. The other chimera tend to gather at the UnClock whenever the lone hand points towards the 13 and stays there, but at most other times they shun its presence. Within the house itself are a myriad of doors leading nowhere, often located in ceilings and floors. Some of these have thirteen doorknobs, while others have none; Marley knockers are also prevalent. These doors can lead anywhere else in the house, and two people stepping through the same door one after another can often find themselves in entirely different locations. A very few of these doors are locked, and only the chimera have the keys. Ragger once stole a key and opened a door out of sheer curiosity; he immediately shut the door and, wonder of wonders, returned the key. To this day, the boggan refuses to talk about what he saw behind the locked door. References # CTD. Immortal Eyes: The Toybox, p. 46. Category:Freeholds (CTD) Category:World of Darkness geography